A medical helicopter crashed into the sea off the coast of Tsushima Island on Sunday, killing three of six people on board, including a patient being transported, the Japan Coast Guard said Monday.
At around 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, the 7th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, received a report that the helicopter transporting the patient from Tsushima in Nagasaki Prefecture to a hospital in the city of Fukuoka had gone missing off the island¡¯s coast.
According to the regional coast guard headquarters, the helicopter was found floating belly-up on the sea east of Tsushima, and three survivors ¡ª a female nurse, a male pilot and a male mechanic ¡ª were seen clinging on to inflatable lifesavers.
Three others ¡ª 86-year-old patient Mitsuko Motoishi, her 68-year-old son, Kazuyoshi Motoishi, and 34-year-old doctor Kei Arakawa ¡ª were found to have suffered cardiac arrest and pronounced dead later.
According to the JCG, the helicopter, operated by SGC Saga Aviation, departed Tsushima Airport at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
It was scheduled to arrive at Fukuoka Wajiro Hospital at 2:15 p.m., but about 10 minutes after takeoff, the aircraft stopped moving on the monitor and did not respond to a radio call.
By 7 p.m., all six people on the helicopter were found and recovered. Although the three survivors suffered hypothermia, they were conscious and remain hospitalized.
The helicopter was later located around 60 kilometers off the coast of Iki Island, Nagasaki Prefecture.
The JCG and the aviation company are investigating the cause of the crash.
In a statement on Monday, Saga Aviation President Hiroki Nakayama apologized for the incident and said that the company is cooperating with authorities in investigations.
During a news conference on Sunday evening, a representative from Saga Aviation said there were no abnormalities found during aircraft¡¯s most-recent inspection and none of its crew had health issues that could have interfered with the flight.
In July last year, a Saga Aviation helicopter crashed in the city of Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, resulting in the deaths of two crew members, including the pilot.
The Karatsu Coast Guard suspects that the helicopter might have made a forced water landing for some reason and is interviewing the pilot and other survivors to determine the cause.
The Japan Transport Safety Board also dispatched two air accident investigators to the site on Monday.
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